The Uni-Tea Party gathering

The crowd appeared to number about 500 at any one time, but lots of attendees drifted in and out, so total attendance was probably one organizer's estimate of 1500.

Yeah, just remember America, Teabaggers are *not* racist! The two gay conservatives in attendance at the rally were interviewed by both TPMMuckraker and by Crooks & Liars. The C&L interviewer said about one interviewee:

He's most concerned about government spending. When I asked which spending, he replied, "All of it. We don't need cash for clunkers, buying auto companies. This stimulus spending is nothing but a slush fund for Obama and his cronies."

I pointed out that war spending dwarfed all that, and asked why that didn't upset him. He sidestepped the question: "Congress needed to declare war. Congress abdicated its responsibilities."

Actually, the Cash for Clunkers program appears to be an unmitigated success story.

GDP grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the 3rd quarter, driven by a 22.4 percent jump in car sales, the result of the Cash for Clunkers (C4C) program. This increase in car sales accounted for 42.0 percent of the growth in the quarter.

and page 14 of the PDF "How the Great Recession was brought to an end" shows a very abrupt upward trend line for industrial production immediately following the program. The study by an economist at Princeton University and one at Moody's sees no ambiguity, the recession was brought to an end by robust government stimulus policies. So, the belief by Tea Party folks that government stimulus did little or no good, while quite sincere, doesn't appear to be grounded in reality.

The right-wing hitman and blogger Andrew Breitbart made an appearance and gave a 20 minute speech.

As proof of the "media bully cabal," Breitbart brought up Journolist, which he described as "an inner cabal that the mainstream media will not play up."

The Journolist story is about a now-defunct listserv that was used by liberal bloggers and journalists, but no scandals have been credibly attributed to it. Breitbart was the person who released the now infamous highly-edited videotape of the then-USDA employee Shirley Sherrod making what appeared to be incriminating statements. Breitbart "maintained that he didn't edit the clip and that it was sent to him already edited." Sherrod is now suing Breitbart for that. She says she's suing for big damages because "that is all right-wing capitalists understand."

Comments

Nice article

Submitted by Bob Shipman (not verified) on Sun, 08/01/2010 - 10:24am

very informative, thanks. Nice job, Rich

The view from the other side

Submitted by Rich Gardner on Sun, 08/01/2010 - 12:19pm

The blog Midnight Blue gives a strongly pro-Tea Party view of the event.

The Inky weighs in as well.

A buddy of mine who was there thinks that the Inky's estimation of about 300 participants seems about right.

Politics

Submitted by Nathan Rodriguez Netbook (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 12:18am

I´m not very politic avid follower, but seems to me that this polarization that exists in USA is bad for the implementation of new ideas that will be needed to face the social issues of the near future.

Media Matter's take on the event

Submitted by Rich Gardner on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 8:28am

Like the "Pet Rock" of the mid-70s, the Tea Party movement was a fad. When the opening of an Apple Computer store draws more people than a Tea Party rally does, it's time to pack away the tents and call it a day. Main problem is that the movement was founded to stop Obama's initiatives and it completely failed in that regard.

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Comments

Nice article

The view from the other side

Politics

Media Matter's take on the event

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